Popular astronaut to bolster connection between Rice and NASA

In an effort to bolster its relationship with NASA, Rice University has tapped the charismatic astronaut and burgeoning TV star Mike Massimino to head its Rice Space Institute for the next year.

“Mass,” who flew on the two most recent Hubble Space Telescope repair missions, will seek to increase collaborations between Johnson Space Center and the university, both by getting Rice researchers more involved at NASA as well as creating more opportunities for students to work at the space center.

The effort is part of Rice’s plan to increase the robustness of the 12-year old institute.

Massimino during the final flight to Hubble. (NASA)

Physicist David Alexander will direct the institute, and Massimino will serve as its executive director for next year. Alexander’s vision includes Rice, where JFK gave his historic moon speech in 1962, playing a more prominent role in developing a sustainable future for Johnson Space Center and the space industry in the city of Houston.

I had a chance to speak with Massimino about the opportunity, what it means for his career as an astronaut, and his cameo on The Big Bang Theory television show earlier this year.

Why was this an attractive offer for you?

For me, when I found out about it, I liked the idea because it gives me an opportunity to work with Rice and still keep my job with NASA. The way I see it, it gives me a chance to help two things that I’m interested in: academics, working with kids, and still continuing to work with the space program. I’m not sure where it might lead after this, but I think it will be a very interesting experience for at least the next year. Before I became an astronaut I was a tenure-track professor (of engineering) at Georgia Tech, so that was a long time ago, but I thought about getting more involved with universities and this seemed like a good opportunity to test those waters again. So it’s really the best of both worlds.

What sorts of relationships do you hope to foster between NASA and Rice?

Well, I hope we can do a few things. One, from the perspective of the students at Rice, I want them to know they’re not that far from NASA. When they come to Rice they’re not only going to a great university, but they’re going to be close to the Johnson Space Center where a lot of exciting things are happening. We can hopefully create opportunities for the students to work with and learn about and collaborate with different projects at NASA. Also, for the graduate students and professors doing research at Rice, we want to foster better communication and cooperation with NASA. From the NASA side, for the last few years, Johnson Space Center has been very interested in working with industry and universities.

Are you going to be on campus what, three or four days as week?

I think it’s going to be something like that. We’re still working out the details. I’m still going to be here at the Johnson Space Center, trying to learn about what is going on here so I can more effective as someone building collaborations. But I know less about Rice than I do about NASA at this point, so I’ll probably be there more often.

So you’re keeping your day job. Do you hope to take another ride into space?

I don’t know. I still think of myself as an astronaut, and I’ll probably always think of myself as an astronaut. I hope to have the opportunity to fly again. This position doesn’t preclude me from getting another ride into space, but I really don’t know if it will happen. I’m really grateful for what I’ve been able to do, and if I get a chance to go again that would be great. But right now I’m more thankful that I’ve had a chance to go rather than I’m wishing I could go again.

You know, if you’re going to make a television show about geniuses, wouldn’t it make more sense to set it at MIT (note: Mass has a PhD from there) rather than Cal-Tech?

Hah, you’re talking about The Big Bang Theory. Yeah, that’s tough because MIT is in Boston and Cal-Tech is closer to Hollywood. That was great. The Big Bang Theory people contacted NASA looking for help on a script with this premise on sending one of their characters, Wolowitz, into space. They try to make it accurate. They had this idea and they wanted to see if it was feasible. They also wanted to increase awareness of NASA, and the fact that we do have people in space.

I met with them back at the end of July, last year. I had to be in California for another reason, and the NASA headquarters folks asked me if I could go and meet with the show writers. It was a blast. These guys were just coming up with jokes and I was telling them stories for a few hours. Then they sent me the script, I consulted on it, and I went and watched them film the episode a few months later. Then I got an e-mail from one of the producers who asked me if I wanted to do a cameo and I was like, ‘Yeah.’ The folks at NASA liked the idea, too, because it’s good press for them.

It’s one of the most fun things I’ve ever done. One of the great things about being an astronaut is, while flying in space is the ultimate, we get to do a lot of other cool stuff too. Going on the Big Bang Theory is one of the things I’ll always remember. I put thing at Rice in the same category. It’s really an extraordinary opportunity. The astronaut job pays dividends in lots of different ways.